High-viscosity liquid feeding booster pump

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a high-viscosity liquid feeding booster pump. The booster pump includes: a body having an actuator mounted at one side thereof and a discharge valve formed at the other side thereof, the body being formed internally with a chamber; a plunger configured to be inserted into the body, and advanced or retracted relative to the body by the operation of the actuator to generate a compressive force or a suction force; and a charge valve disposed at an intake port formed at an upper portion of one side of the body in such a manner as to be spaced apart from a discharge valve, and configured to be opened or closed in cooperation with the advancing or retracting operation of the plunger to supply a fluid to the inside of the body or interrupt the supply of the fluid.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a booster pump, and more particularly,to a high-viscosity liquid feeding booster pump that minimizes thepulsation of the pump to increase the pressure of the liquid so that theliquid is fed quantitatively.

BACKGROUND ART

As a metering pump that supplies a high-viscosity liquid quantitativelyusing a discharge gun, a gear pump is bulky and heavy. For this reason,a lightweight and pulsation-free secondary metering pump of a pistontype based on a ball screw is widely used as a booster pump.

A booster pump is disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1250985(registered on Mar. 29, 2013).

The booster pump of the above patent includes a suction header connectedto an intake pipe through which a fluid is supplied to allow the fluidsupplied from the intake pipe to be introduced thereto, a dischargeheader to which a discharge pipe through which the fluid introduced intothe suction header is discharged is connected, and a pump unit connectedbetween the suction header and the discharge header and configured toincrease the pressure of the fluid supplied from the suction header anddischarge the pressure-increased fluid to the discharge header. The pumpunit includes a driving pump configured to suck the fluid from thesuction header and discharge the sucked fluid to the discharge header, asuction gate valve disposed between the driving pump and the suctionheader and configured to supply the fluid introduced thereto from thesuction header to the driving pump or interrupt the supply of the fluidto the driving pump, a discharge gate valve disposed between the drivingpump and the discharge header and configured to supply the fluiddischarged from the driving pump to the discharge header or interruptthe supply of the fluid to the discharge header, a check valve disposedbetween the driving pump and the discharge header and configured toprevent the backflow of the fluid discharged to the discharge headerfrom the driving pump, and a leakage checking unit disposed between thecheck valve and the driving pump and including a shield plate configuredto reduce an initial pressure of the fluid discharged to the check valvefrom the driving pump. The discharge header includes a flexible jointunit disposed at a portion to which the discharge pipe is connected andconfigured to be flexibly bent to prevent a shock of the fluid, which iscaused by the operation of the driving pump, from being transferred tothe discharge pipe.

Meanwhile, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a conventional booster pump in accordancewith the prior art. In FIGS. 1 and 2, when a screw 1 a is rotated by anactuator 10 a, a nut unit 2 a coupled to the screw 1 a is movedvertically and simultaneously a plunger 3 a coupled to the nut unit 2 ais moved vertically to cause a liquid to be filled in a chamber 120 a orthe liquid filled in the chamber 120 a to be discharged.

A charge valve 4 a and a discharge valve 5 a are respectively disposedat a liquid charge port and a liquid discharge port of the booster pumpso as to be opened/closed in response to an instruction from a controldevice. Thus, when the screw 1 a is rotated by the actuator 10 a andsimultaneously the plunger 3 a coupled to the nut unit 2 a is movedupwardly, the charge valve 4 a at the liquid charge port is opened tocause the liquid to be introduced into the chamber 120 a.

When the plunger reaches a top dead point where the liquid is filled,the charge valve 4 a is closed by the control device and the actuator 10a starts to be reversely rotated to cause the nut unit 2 a and theplunger 3 a to be moved downwardly simultaneously so that the dischargevalve 5 a is opened by the control device to cause the liquid filled inthe chamber 120 a to be discharged through a discharge port 32 a.

At a bottom dead point where the discharge of the liquid is completed,the discharge valve 5 a is closed by the control device and the actuator10 a is reversely rotated to cause the plunger 3 a to be moved upwardly.Similarly, when the charge valve 4 a is opened by the control devicesimultaneously with the upward movement of the plunger 3 a, the liquidfilling or charging process is repeatedly performed.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a viscosity liquid filling anddischarging process of a booster pump in accordance with the prior art.

In FIG. 3, because the liquid is always adhered to or gathered in adistal end of the plunger 3 a and a corner of the bottom end of theinside of the chamber 120 a, it is denaturized and coagulated over timeso that solidified substances X left as liquid residues become largegradually and thus fragments are partially separated away from thesolidified substances X, thus causing a problem in that the dischargeport 32 a is blocked.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

Accordingly, the present disclosure has been made to solve theaforementioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an objectof the present invention to provide a high-viscosity liquid feedingbooster pump in which a charged liquid feeding passage is spirallyformed on the inner peripheral surface of a chamber so that a viscousliquid is primarily sequentially accumulated at a discharge part side inthe order in which the liquid is filled or charged by a piston orplunger that repeatedly performs the ascending and descending motionusing a ball screw and so that when the piston or plunger descends toextrude the liquid, a first filled viscous liquid is first dischargedand simultaneously the charged liquid feeding passage is opened along adistal front end of the piston or plunger upon the charging of theliquid to always fill a new viscous liquid to prevent the liquid frombeing adhered to and left around the piston or plunger, and in which thespirally formed passage is rounded smoothly to minimize a cause ofsedimentation of a liquid residue.

Technical Solution

To achieve the above and other objects, in accordance with the presentdisclosure, there is provided a booster pump including:

a body having an actuator mounted at one side thereof and a dischargevalve formed at the other side thereof, the body being formed internallywith a chamber;

a plunger configured to be inserted into the body, and advanced orretracted relative to the body by the operation of the actuator togenerate a compressive force or a suction force; and

a charge valve disposed at an intake port formed at an upper portion ofone side of the body in such a manner as to be spaced apart from adischarge valve, and configured to be opened or closed in cooperationwith the advancing or retracting operation of the plunger to supply afluid to the inside of the body or interrupt the supply of the fluid,

wherein the body includes a charged liquid feeding passage spirallyformed on the inner peripheral surface of the chamber thereof in such amanner as to fluidically communicate with the intake port connected tothe charge valve, and

wherein the charged liquid feeding passage has an outlet formed inproximity to the discharge valve.

The plunger may include a front end formed protrudingly in a conicalshape, and the chamber may include a seat formed concavely in a conicalshape at a bottom thereof in such a manner as to be in close contactwith the front end of the plunger.

A connection part between the intake port and the chamber may bechamfered to form a bent part.

Advantageous Effect

In accordance with the booster pump of the present invention asconstructed above, a problem is solved in that a liquid residue isproduced inside the chamber due to the incompleteness of the first-infirst-out operation and a sediment solidified or cured over time isseparated apart from the inside of the chamber to block the dischargeport, so that the charge and discharge of the viscous liquid isperformed in a first-in first-out manner inside the chamber and astructure of the pump is improved to prevent the liquid residue frombeing left in the chamber to minimize generation of solidified or curedsubstances, thereby reducing unnecessary time and cost and basicallypreventing an unpredictable accident such as a stop of a production lineand thus significantly increasing productivity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects, other features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will become more apparent by describing the preferredembodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views showing a conventional boosterpump in accordance with the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a liquidresidue is left in a liquid filling and discharging process of a boosterpump in accordance with the prior art;

FIG. 4 is a front cross-sectional view showing a booster pump inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged front cross-sectional view showing thebooster pump of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the booster pump of FIG. 5; and

FIGS. 7( a) to 7(i) are cross-sectional views showing a liquid fillingand discharging process of the booster pump in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

EXPLANATION ON REFERENCE NUMERALS OF MAIN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAWINGS

-   -   100: body    -   120: chamber    -   130: intake port    -   140: bent part    -   170: seat    -   180: discharge port    -   200: plunger    -   300: charge valve

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.However, the embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and are notintended to limit the scope of the invention. For the sake of a clearerunderstanding of the present disclosure, the thickness of lines or thesize of constituent elements shown in the drawings may be illustratedexaggeratingly for the clarity and convenience of description.

In the drawings, FIG. 4 is a front cross-sectional view showing abooster pump in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure,FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged front cross-sectional view showing thebooster pump of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the boosterpump of FIG. 5, and FIGS. 7( a) to 7(i) are cross-sectional viewsshowing a liquid filling and discharging process of the booster pump inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, a high-viscosity liquid feeding booster pumpin accordance with the present invention includes: a body 100 having anactuator (not shown) mounted at one side thereof and a discharge valve400 formed at the other side thereof, the body 100 being formedinternally with a chamber 120; a plunger 200 configured to be insertedinto the body 100, and advanced or retracted relative to the body 100 bythe operation of the actuator to generate a compressive force or asuction force; and a charge valve 300 disposed at one side of the body100 and configured to be opened or closed in cooperation with theadvancing or retracting operation of the plunger 200 to supply a fluidto the inside of the body 100 or interrupt the supply of the fluid.

Herein, the charge valve 300 is disposed at an intake port 130 formed atan upper portion of one side of the body 100 in such a manner as to bespaced apart from a discharge valve 400. A connection part between theintake port 130 and the chamber 120 is chamfered to form a bent part140.

A fluid supply unit (not shown) for supplying a fluid is provided at theoutside of the charge valve 300. In this case, a high-viscosity liquidis mainly used as the fluid.

The chamber 120 is vertically formed within the body 100. The plunger200 ascends or descends in a state of being inserted into the chamber120 to induce the suction or compression of the fluid through the chargevalve 300.

An intake port 130 is formed at an upper portion of one side of the body100. The body includes a charged liquid feeding passage 600 spirallyformed on the inner peripheral surface of the chamber thereof in such amanner as to fluidically communicate with the intake port 130. Thecharged liquid feeding passage 600 has an outlet 620 formed at a lowerend thereof in proximity to a seat 170.

Thus, when the plunger 200 starts to ascend, a suction force isgenerated from the charge valve 300 and the outlet 620 formed at thelower end of the charged liquid feeding passage 600 connected to theintake port 130 so that the charge valve 300 is opened to cause thefluid from the fluid supply unit to be introduced into the chamber 120.

Herein, the liquid filled in a liquid feed passage section extendingfrom the upper end, i.e., a portion connected to the intake port 130, ofthe charged liquid feeding passage 600 to the outlet 620 of the chargedliquid feeding passage 600 is introduced into the chamber 120, and anewly introduced liquid is charged in the charged liquid feeding passage600.

When the plunger 200 is lowered, the fluid charged in the chamber 120 iscompressed and is injected to the outside through the discharge valve400 and the nozzle 430.

In accordance with embodiment of the present invention, the chargingliquid feed passage 600 is spirally formed on the inner peripheralsurface of the chamber 120 of the body 100 in such a manner as tofluidically communicate with the intake port 130 connected to the chargevalve 300, and the outlet 620 of the charging liquid feed passage 600 isformed in proximity to the discharge port 180 connected to the dischargevalve 400.

In other words, the charged liquid feeding passage 600 is spirallyformed in a single number or plural numbers on the inner peripheralsurface of the chamber 120. The charged liquid feeding passage 600 isformed on the inner peripheral surface of the chamber 120 in a shapewhich is recessed into a predetermined depth so that when the plunger200 ascends while the outer peripheral surface of the plunger 200 comesinto close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the chamber 120,the liquid flows out of the charged liquid feeding passage 600 opened ina circumferential direction and is filled in the chamber 120 in anaccumulated manner. Further, when the plunger 200 descends, itdischarges the liquid contained in the chamber 120 and simultaneouslypressurizes the fluid within the charged liquid feeding passage 600 sothat the fluid is effectively fed to the final outlet through thespirally formed liquid feeding passage 600, and thus is discharged tothe discharge valve 400 while inducing a swirling motion of a fluidgathered in the bottom of the chamber 120, which is adjacent to thedischarge valve 400, thereby preventing a residue from being left at thebottom of the chamber 120.

In the meantime, the plunger 200 includes a front end 25 formedprotrudingly in a conical shape, and the chamber 120 includes a seat 170formed concavely in a conical shape at the bottom thereof in such amanner as to be in close contact with the front end 250 of the plunger200.

As such, the front end 250 of the plunger 250 is formed protrudingly ina sharpening shape so that the surface area of a portion where ahigh-viscosity liquid will be left is reduced. Moreover, the bottom ofthe chamber 120, with which the front end of the plunger 200 is in closecontact, is formed with the seat 170 having a shape corresponding to ina conical shape. The discharge port 180 is formed at the central portionof the seat 170 so as to fluidically communicate with the dischargevalve 400.

Thus, the high-viscosity liquid intensively gathered in the center ofthe seat 170 is discharged through the discharge port 180. Further,because the seat 170 is recessed concavely, the high-viscosity liquidcan flow to the center of the seat 170, thereby preventing thehigh-viscosity liquid from being left in the seat 170. In addition, theplunger 200 is lifted, the charged liquid feeding passage 600 is openedalong the front end of the plunger 200 to fill a liquid in the chamber120 so that a new liquid is always filled in an upper layer portion ofthe charged liquid feeding passage 600, thereby completely attaining afirst-in first-out operation of the liquid.

Hereinafter, the operation of the high-viscosity liquid feeding boosterpump in accordance with the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 7, the operation order of booster pump is performed inan order of (a) to (i).

FIG. 7( a) shows a state in which the plunger 200 is positioned at thelowest point and the liquid is completely discharged from the chamber ofthe body.

FIGS. 7( b) to 7(h) sequentially shows the ascending operation of theplunger 200. In FIGS. 7( b) to 7(h), a new liquid filled in a passagesection extending from the intake port 130 to the outlet of the chargedliquid feeding passage 600, which is connected to the intake port 130,starts to be filled in the chamber 120, starting from the bottom of thechamber 120.

Arrows indicated in FIGS. 7( b) to 7(h) denote liquid-filled positions.

FIG. 7( i) shows a state in which the plunger 200 descends to dischargethe liquid after the liquid is completely filled in the chamber.

Thus, because the present invention follows a first-in first-outoperation in which a new liquid is charged in the chamber and then isdischarged, the plunger 200 is maintained in a clean state to preventthe viscous liquid form being accumulated in and adhered to the distalend of the plunger 200

Further, the lower end of the plunger 200 and the seat 170 of thechamber 120 are machined in a conical shape having a gradient so thatthe liquid can be rapidly discharged without being left in the chamberupon the discharge thereof.

While the present invention has been described in connection with thespecific embodiments illustrated in the drawings, they are merelyillustrative, and the invention is not limited to these embodiments. Itis to be understood that various equivalent modifications and variationsof the embodiments can be made by a person having an ordinary skill inthe art without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Therefore, the true technical scope of the present inventionshould not be defined by the above-mentioned embodiments but should bedefined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present disclosure can provide a high-viscosity liquid feedingbooster pump that minimizes the pulsation of the pump to increase thepressure of the liquid so that the liquid is fed quantitatively.

What is claimed is:
 1. A booster pump comprising: a body having anactuator mounted at one side thereof and a discharge valve formed at theother side thereof, the body being formed internally with a chamber; aplunger configured to be inserted into the body, and advanced orretracted relative to the body by the operation of the actuator togenerate a compressive force or a suction force; and a charge valvedisposed at an intake port formed at an upper portion of one side of thebody in such a manner as to be spaced apart from a discharge valve, andconfigured to be opened or closed in cooperation with the advancing orretracting operation of the plunger to supply a fluid to the inside ofthe body or interrupt the supply of the fluid, wherein the body includesa charged liquid feeding passage spirally formed on the inner peripheralsurface of the chamber thereof in such a manner as to fluidicallycommunicate with the intake port connected to the charge valve, andwherein the charged liquid feeding passage has an outlet formed inproximity to the discharge valve.
 2. The booster pump according to claim1, wherein the plunger comprises a front end formed protrudingly in aconical shape, and the chamber comprises a seat formed concavely in aconical shape at a bottom thereof in such a manner as to be in closecontact with the front end of the plunger.
 3. The booster pump accordingto claim 1, wherein a connection part between the intake port and thechamber is chamfered to form a bent part.